Valentine's Day Date

We're not huge into Valentine's Day around here, but like to celebrate on a small-ish scale.

Actually, on our first married Valentine's Day we decided, in light of a limited budget, to let the holiday pass us by - we didn't need it, right? Then that night I came home from work and cried because I didn't get any flowers. One of my more shining moments - ha! We then decided to bake heart-shaped cookies and watch a romantic comedy. Much more my style!

Anyway, this year we're going to help out with a "Parents Night Out" event with the business school - basically providing free babysitting on Valentine's Day. Should be fun. So to celebrate the holiday we just spent the day together on Saturday. Wonderful! It involved a trip to Archiver's (yay!) and a real mall in Indy and lunch at Stir Crazy, which we decided that we liked. Our gifts? New shoes for each other (Josh's were needed, mine - not so much).

There is something so romantic for me in simple times spent together. I love it.

I Am NOT Smarter Than A 5th Grader

So last night we got together with some friends and played this new board game, based on the tv show with the same name. It involves answering grade school-type trivia correctly to move forward.

So I got to a 2nd grade geography question:

What is the capital of Canada?

A. Toronto

B. Ottawa

C. Quebec

And got it WRONG (I chose A).

How is it that I am 24 years old and do not know the capital of the next nearest country? What is my problem? Indeed, I am not even smarter than a 2nd grader.

College Days

For work this week I've been instructed to hang out at bookstores (I know, a tough life) and yesterday I spent some time in the bookstore at the IU Memorial Union. I then hiked across campus to check out another bookstore, and that walk (in the rainy nasty cold) REALLY brought me back to my own college days. The Big Ten campus. The hoards of undergrads everywhere. The long walks to class. The backpacks, UGG boots, and North Face coats. Students haven't changed much since I was at school!

Since then I've been thinking about things I miss and don't miss about college. And while I'm on the subject, include some pictures from those days.

MISS
-Christmas break and summer vacation!

-Having available time during the day - for a trip to the grocery store, to take a nap, to watch tv with roommates, etc

-Michigan football every fall

-Let me go back to NAPS during the day

-Dorm dinners (not the food - see below) but the big group of people sharing meals each evening

-Not really having bills to pay. Not many, anyway.

-My roomies! I love living with Josh, but I had a blast living with 7 other girls in a big old house - well, most of the time. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade it for married life for anything! I just miss seeing my friends everyday.

-Being super involved in Campus ministry. I grew SO much as a person and especially in my faith through my involvement with Campus Crusade for Christ. I even spent amazing summers in Virginia Beach and Istanbul, Turkey with them.

-Rolling out of bed, throwing on a sweatshirt and flip-flops, and heading to class. No need to get any more ready than that!

DON'T MISS

-Walking to class in the cold, the rain, the snow, and anything in between.

-Studying and writing papers - yuck. Especially on weekends.

-Being broke. All the time. $150 in a checking account (and no savings to speak of) was a good week.

-Petty arguments with roommates...

-Not being able to find parking near my house

-Cafeteria food when I lived in the dorms (except for taco night!)

-Some rough times with certain boys I was interested in

-The draftyness of the big old house we lived in.

Can anyone relate? What do you think of when you think back on your college days?

Trying To Remember This

O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.

Don't be concerned. There isn't anything especially painful going on around here. I'm talking about the stress of house work, busyness, travel, running (which has not been going well lately), leading a women's group, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary. But still, I'm so prone to focus on all of those things and all there is to do and get completely overwhelmed.

Thankful for a God that cares about the grit, the mundane, and the everyday. And that He allows me to dump it all at His feet.

Monster Cookies

These are our favorite cookies and since I made a batch recently I thought I'd share the recipe. They are hearty, flavorful, and who doesn't like a mix of M&Ms, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips? I'm a huge oatmeal fan already so the combination of so many favorites is certainly a hit for me. The trick is to bake them until they're just faintly brown but mostly look undercooked. That way they stay a little gooey on the inside. We enjoy eating these (and most other cookies) frozen.




A family friend gave us a copy of her family cookbook for our wedding, and we've enjoyed great meals, desserts, and appetizers from it ever since. This is one of her recipes, with a couple of modifications.

• 2 1/4 C brown sugar
• 2 1/4 C white sugar
• 2 sticks margarine
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 6 eggs
• 1 Tbl corn syrup
• 2 1/4 C peanut butter
• 9 C oatmeal (4 C quick, 5 C rolled)
• 4 tsp baking soda
• 1 bag chocolate chips
• 1 bag butterscotch chips
• 1 C M&Ms

Cream sugars and margarine. Add eggs and beat, then add peanut butter and corn syrup. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Drop by large tablespoons onto a cookie sheet. I sometimes leave out the M&Ms from the mix and press a couple into the top of each cookie before I bake them. Bake at 350 degrees from 8-10 minutes.

As this makes a "monster" batch I often half it and still end up with 5 dozen or so cookies :).

As Promised - Gala Pictures

Back At It

Sorry folks... I feel like Kara for letting this blog go so long without an update.

And this will be short.

I spent Tuesday evening - Friday evening last week in Grand Rapids for work. When I worked there I always took going into the office for granted. It was a treat to work from home for the occasional afternoon. But now going in is actually kind of fun! I get to see people and catch up with co-workers. I really enjoy the people I work with, but I think it would be weird to call them on Friday afternoons from my home office and chat about weekend plans. Much easier to do when you sit across the row from them (hi, Alex!) in an office.

GR was fine except the 4ish days I was there the entire state was buried in snow. Not the most fun for driving around, especially yesterday when I had a 5.5 hour drive to look forward to. Thankfully I had no big issues and the roads were mostly fine. I DID love getting to see my brother, cousins, and friends for a little bit... it makes me miss home! It felt like "old times" to watch LOST (yay, it is back on!) with the Telmans and Buurstras. Bryan and Erika, even though you don't care for the show, we still missed you!

And now it is blissful to be back home doing homey things... grocery shopping, snuggling with Josh and Riley, watching a movie... *smile*

Tonight we're off to what is usually refered to as the "MBA Prom" (the MBA Gala) so I'd better start getting ready! Thankfully Lora came through with a dress I could borrow at the last minute. Nothing like putting things off until the last minute! But I really hate dress shopping (nothing ever fits!) and am thankful I didn't have to spend today trying to do it in a less-than-exciting mall.

I'll post some pictures of the event tomorrow :)